RL Commercial chief names three new potential destinations for Magic Weekend, including Nottingham
RL Commercial Managing Director Rhodri Jones admits new destinations are being explored for Magic Weekend, with Super League’s showcase event here to stay.
Nottingham, Dublin and Paris are among a number of prospective future host cities identified by Jones, with Elland Road hosting this year’s Magic Weekend for the first time since the concept was launched in 2007.
Newcastle United’s St James’ Park was unavailable which saw the move to the home of Leeds United, with the North-East having staged the event in all but two of the last eight years, with Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool also all previous hosts of the popular weekend.
Despite fears it would ultimately fall foul of IMG's desire to axe the unloved 'loop fixtures' from a congested schedule, Jones confirmed the event - which features all 12 top-flight clubs in action over two days - is here to stay.
Jones said: "Magic Weekend is in the calendar for next year. There's a bit of work to do on where and what time, but we are having some live conversations with destination venues.
"We have developed a good relationship with Leeds United and we have a long-standing relationship with Newcastle that is still ongoing.
"Nottingham is a possibility through Nottingham Forest, we've had conversations with Cardiff, we're looking at Dublin and potentially, in the longer term, Paris. We've got to keep evolving and being innovative."
This year’s event – the 17th edition of Magic Weekend – saw the second-lowest crowd in its history, with day two recording the lowest Sunday attendance at just 22,293.
More than 30,000 attended day one, which included Wigan’s 20-0 win over rivals St Helens, and despite the crowd figures, Jones remained upbeat on the event as a whole in West Yorkshire.
"When we announced that we were coming to Elland Road there were plenty who said it was going to be a disaster and the worst Magic Weekend in history," added Jones.
"I think we've proved a few doubters wrong, and having 30,000 in on Saturday was a positive Magic Weekend day for us and compared favourably against all of the other Magic Weekend days we've had."